Gettysburg 2016: After Action Reports

Looks like a really wonderful collection James... I would have loved looking at it with you if I could have been there. An image in hand can often be so much more impressive than what one gets from viewing it on-line...

He has researched the history of many of those in his images and can tell you a lot about the details (e.g. clothing). It's an action-packed little collection and James' enthusiasm is infectious. I hope you get to see it some day.
 
The 2017 trip was already in the works before the 2016 trip. I will be attending the Civil War Institute 2017 held at Gettysburg College. I just cannot wait! However, I have a LOT of reading to do, because those professors will definitely challenge my limits.
Do you have the reading list for CWI 2017?
 
The Good Luck Suitcase

aa suitcase.jpg


I want to revisit the Good Luck Suitcase and review it's magical influence:

1. Whilst being driven home from another trip tonight, my driver and I avoided a fatal freeway pile-up by about 5 minutes...saw it through the rear mirror and read about it later...patted my suitcase sitting next to me:smile:

2. Monday -- last day in G-burg -- woke up to monsoon rains that magically stopped in time for @peterT @War Horse @Frums and I to do some last minute exploring.

3. Again, it rained Sunday morning before Eric Wittenberg's last tour, but the sky broke and revealed a beautiful day for a tour.

4. At the end of @cash 's tour on Friday later around 7:30pm, we stopped and walked around near Armistead's marker...and who should be standing on the knoll below the marker, @MaryDee ? Ranger Matt Atkinson the "Dirty Dan Man"!!!!...sorry cash, but THAT was the highlight of the tour!! I had mentioned before the trip to both cash and War Horse that I REALLY wanted to meet ranger Matt...and I did. PS he is as funny in real life as he is on the videos:smile:

5. When I took off from Harrisburg Airport, as we rolled down the runway, four coyotes escorted our plane just on the other side of the runway fence....they kept up for a while. very cool

6. I only had FIVE MINUTES to catch my next flight connection at O'Hare Airport in Chicago -- impending doom, because not only would I not have enough time, but I could no longer see well enough to read the gate marquee. By some crazy weather miracle we arrived 40 minutes EARLY to our destination, and arrangements were made to escort me straight to my seat on the plane, early.

7. Finally, It has not rained for MONTHS in California where I live, and by some freak of weather....it rained that night as I was climbing into bed (or were those tears hitting the pillow?....Naw, I will bee back to G-burg in 9 mos)


PS Special Mention to @Northern Light for being such a good sport when I started artillery shelling her little stick house during @rpkennedy 's lecture :devilish:
 
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The Good Luck Suitcase

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I want to revisit the Good Luck Suitcase and review it's magical influence:

1. Whilst being driven home from another trip tonight, my driver and I avoided a fatal freeway pile-up by about 5 minutes...saw it through the rear mirror and read about it later...patted my suitcase sitting next to me:smile:

2. Monday -- last day in G-burg -- woke up to monsoon rains that magically stopped in time for @peterT @War Horse @Frums and I to do some last minute exploring.

3. Again, it rained Sunday morning before Eric Wittenberg's last tour, but the sky broke and revealed a beautiful day for a tour.

4. At the end of @cash 's tour on Friday later around 7:30pm, we stopped and walked around near Armistead's marker...and who should be standing on the knoll below the marker, @MaryDee ? Ranger Matt Atkinson the "Dirty Dan Man"!!!!...sorry cash, but THAT was the highlight of the tour!! I had mentioned before the trip to both cash and War Horse that I REALLY wanted to meet ranger Matt...and I did. PS he is as funny in real life as he is on the videos:smile:

5. When I took off from Harrisburg Airport, as we rolled down the runway, four coyotes escorted our planed just on the other side of the runway fence....they kept up for a while. very cool

6. I only had FIVE MINUTES to catch my next flight connection at O'Hare Airport in Chicago -- impending doom, because not only would I not have enough time, but I could no longer see well enough to read the gate marquee. By some crazy weather miracle we arrived 40 minutes EARLY to our destination, and arrangements were made to escort me straight to my seat on the plane, early.

7. Finally, It has not rained for MONTHS in California where I live, and by some freak of weather....it rained that night as I was climbing into bed (or were those tears hitting the pillow?....Naw, I will bee back to G-burg in 9 mos)


PS Special Mention to @Northern Light for being such a good sport when I started artillery shelling her little stick house during @rpkennedy 's lecture :devilish:
I love that suitcase!
 
One of my many regrets at not being able to attend was not getting the chance to meet @sarladaise. I had even started brushing up on my French.
And I was no little surprised that she isn't French at all, but an Austrian, living in France! So we even could speak German with her and her husband!
We had a nice goodbye breakfast together at Friendly's on Sunday, before we hit the road in different directions.
 
4. At the end of @cash 's tour on Friday later around 7:30pm, we stopped and walked around near Armistead's marker...and who should be standing on the knoll below the marker, @MaryDee ? Ranger Matt Atkinson the "Dirty Dan Man"!!!!...sorry cash, but THAT was the highlight of the tour!! I had mentioned before the trip to both cash and War Horse that I REALLY wanted to meet ranger Matt...and I did. PS he is as funny in real life as he is on the videos:smile:

Well, who introduced you and told him you were a big fan? :smile:
 
Just sitting here flipping through my @civilwarincolor calendar and realizing what a treasure it truly is. Check out the month of June which features a photo of Maj Gen "Little Billy" Mahone". An individual we came to know so well over the weekend. Now flip to July. Not only do we meet John L. Burns "The Old Hero of Gettysburg" but we also learn that Civilwarincolor's avatar is Private John Wesley Knott of the 6th North Carolina State Troops. Also check out August "Above Deck & Turret of U.S.S Monitor, James River, VA and then there's October, featuring a photo of George Armstrong Custer and Alfred Pleasonton. I am very looking forward to reading what occurred on each day of the calendar year. What a nice bonus to our weekend, one that will last all year long. Thank you @civilwarincolor !
 
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Just sitting here flipping through my @civilwarincolor calendar and realizing what a treasure it truly is. Check out the month of June which features a photo of Maj Gen "Little Billy" Mahone". An individual we came to know so well over the weekend. Now flip to July. Not only do we meet John L. Burns "The Old Hero of Gettysburg" but we also learn that Civilwarincolor's avatar is Private John Wesley Knott of the 6th North Carolina State Troops. Also check out August "Above Deck & Turret of U.S.S Monitor, James River, VA and then there's October, featuring a photo of George Armstrong Custer and Alfred Pleasonton. I am very looking forward to reading what occurred on each day of the calendar year. What a nice bonus to our weekend, one that will last all year long. Thank you @civilwarincolor !

Thank you so much for your words. We have been doing the calendar for a number of years now and it is always great to see the next one, especially when it gets put up on the wall in January. :smile: I try to make sure that the calendar covers a little of everything. I get many requests to have more Confederates featured, but to be honest we would burn through all of the good images very quickly, unfortunately not enough images from the South survive.

Yes, I snuck in one of my ancestors. :sneaky: It should be noted that each month has two images, one full page and then a small one that takes up some of the white space at the end of the current month. John Wesley Knott is one at the bottom of the page, since he is not a known name it did not seem right to give him a full page, but I did want to honor him in July as part of our Gettysburg section.

As for the trivia on each day and for the story behind the images, I have to thank my wife (she writes "Through The Lens" for "Civil War News"). She has compiled more than 13,000 date specific trivia. It is always fun to look and find something interesting for a specific date in the year. Sometimes the date is something prior to the war, such as the birth of a general, sometimes it is post war, such as the recovery of the CSS Hunley a few years ago. The story's about the images tell a brief bit about the image. For more detailed stories, check out her Civil War News Articles.
 
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